Quotation from: Manual of Surgery

Written by: Alexander Miles and Alexis Thomson


The arrangement of the _blood vessels_ determines to some extent the
incidence of disease in bone. The nutrient artery, after entering the
medullary canal through a special foramen in the cortex, bifurcates, and
one main division runs towards each of the extremities, and terminates
at the ossifying junction in a series of capillary loops projected
against the epiphysial cartilage. This arrangement favours the lodgment
of any organisms that may be circulating in the blood, and partly
accounts for the frequency with which diseases of bacterial origin
develop in the region of the ossifying junction. The diaphysis is also
nourished by numerous blood vessels from the periosteum, which penetrate
the cortex through the Haversian canals and anastomose with those
derived from the nutrient artery. The epiphyses are nourished by a
separate system of blood vessels, derived from the arteries which supply
the adjacent joint. The veins of the marrow are of large calibre and are
devoid of valves.

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